Live From DFW RIMS 2024 | Sponsored by Hillwood

RIMScast

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.

This episode of RIMScast is proudly sponsored by Hillwood. Hillwood is a leading multinational real estate development company and part of the Perot family of companies. For more information, visit Hillwood.com.

In the spirit of #InternationalPodcastDay on Sept. 30, RIMScast was produced live and onsite at the DFW RIMS Fall Conference in Irving, Texas on Sept. 19. You can hear the electricity on the floor of the Irving Convention Center as RIMS members, risk professionals and vendors from the greater Dallas Fort Worth area convened to learn, share knowledge, and network.

Former and current DFW RIMS Presidents join RIMScast today to discuss the state of risk in DFW, Safety, and ERM trends they are noticing, and why this event marks the closing chapter in one book and prepares for an all-new one in 2025.

Key Takeaways:

[:01] About Hillwood, the proud sponsor of this episode of RIMScast.

[:15] About this episode, coming to you live from Irving Texas at the DFW RIMS 2024 Fall Conference and Spa Event. This is the Texas risk roundup; we’re juggling risks and lassoing opportunities.

[:46] This episode is sponsored by Hillwood, a Perot company. Learn more at Hillwood.com.

[:52] It’s an exciting event. It’s also the end of an era for the DFW RIMS Chapter and we’ll talk about that.

[1:07] Events! Visit GreaterBluegrass.RIMS.org to learn more about the Greater Bluegrass Chapter of RIMS and their upcoming annual conference and meeting event, on October 8th and 9th. They’ve got some great speakers lined up. Check out their website and LinkedIn.

[1:35] Last call for the RIMS Western Regional Conference, September 29th through October 1st at the Sun River Resort in Oregon. Register at RIMSWesternRegional.com.

[1:47] The RIMS Canada Conference 2024 is coming up, October 6th through the 9th in Vancouver. Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca to register.

[1:57] The 2024 RIMS ERM Conference will be held in Boston, Massachusetts on November 18th and 19th. Visit RIMS.org/ERM2024.

[2:10] Interviews! My first guest is the Ex Officio of the DFW RIMS Chapter, LaToya Lee. She is Vice President of Crew Safety at Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers. LaToya Lee, welcome to RIMScast!

[2:33] The DFW RIMS 2024 Fall Conference and Spa Event at the Irving Convention Center is Texas-themed with a carnival. It is electrifying! Justin and LaToya met at the Risk Manager Exclusive Forum Lunch at the conference. It was a lunch for risk managers to speak freely.

[3:43] At the luncheon, LaToya raised an excellent point about an emerging risk from social media. Raising Cane’s has so many employees who are young people on Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat. Raising Cane’s has great policies and procedures to prevent employees from posting.

[5:01] Most employees don’t bring their phones to the restaurant, but if they do, they must store them in their lockers. Raising Cane’s has about 840 locations in the U.S. About 800 are corporate-owned with a few franchise partners. LaToya is the Vice President of Crew Safety.

[5:57] As a fast-casual. Quick-service restaurant, with four menu items, Raising Cane’s is a people business. The Raising Cane’s culture is a fun, cool culture, with disco balls and smiling faces. The crew is in shorts. It’s a family-oriented business. They cater to all.

[7:29] The growth of Raising Cane’s is astronomical. When LaToya started, there were 248 restaurants. LaToya will soon be celebrating her 9th anniversary with Raising Cane’s and there are 800-plus restaurants now.

[8:04] As DFW RIMS Ex Officio, LaToya says the conference turnout is simply amazing. The attendees, vendors, and speakers are phenomenal. The topics of ERM, Work Comp, Property Damage, and Nuclear Verdicts, are everything you want in a one-day conference.

[8:37] What excites LaToya for the next year’s conference is the growth. Having all of the Texas Chapters coming together for one conference in San Antonio is going to be amazing!

[8:55] LaToya, it has been such a pleasure to meet you! I look forward to seeing you in San Antonio and at RISKWORLD 2025! Thank you so much!

[9:10] We are joined by former DFW RIMS Chapter President and a RIMS Global Board Director, Penni Chambers. Hello, Penni!

[9:46] Penni grew up in Texas and has lassoing skills! She moderated a session with the State Office of Risk Management. It was one of the favorite sessions she has moderated. It was lassoing the panelists, keeping them on track, and not going over time, with audience questions!

[10:40] Justin notes that it is International Podcast Day, and this is a special live episode. There’s electricity here at the Conference!

[11:09] Penni thinks the growth of risk management in Texas is in part because of the economic growth in Texas, with big Fortune 500 companies coming into the region. North Texas has grown. The Dallas membership for the DFW RIMS Chapter grows with the companies coming in.

[11:35] Their risk managers want to get to know other risk managers. There is a camaraderie among peers. The marketing effort of the chapter spans decades. The fall conference gives everyone a chance to reconnect and meet new people at events leading up to the conference.

[12:36] It’s exciting to Penni as a seasoned professional to see these young faces and new faces at the Conference. It’s incredible! It’s also bittersweet to Penni that this is the last DFW RIMS Fall Conference, after decades of conferences.

[13:22] Next year, DFW RIMS will team up with the Huston, San Antonio, and Central Texas RIMS Chapters to host the first-ever Texas Regional RIMS Conference, August 4th through 6th, in San Antonio near the Alamo, on the river walk. San Antonio is a beautiful place to kick it off!

[14:21] Penni is excited because she will get to meet members from other chapters. She says the collaboration that’s going to come from this is going to be phenomenal!

[14:53] Penni says they are planning this conference in collaboration with Global RIMS. It’s super exciting. It’s the first time Global RIMS has done something like it for a regional conference. It’s going to be a “drop-dead stunner” of a conference!

[15:17] It has been such a pleasure to sit with you in person to do one of these interviews for International Podcast Day! You did a wonderful job moderating this morning. I want to thank you and thank Hillwood for being our sponsor for this episode! I’ll see you at RISKWORLD 2025!

[15:44] I wanted to close out this RIMScast episode with some symmetry. We had two former DFW RIMS Presidents on the show today. We will close it out with the current DFW RIMS President, Emily Casso Ford, who has been fantastic to work with.

[16:05] Emily has led sessions and in many ways has been the face of the conference. I wanted to hear from her directly, not just about DFW RIMS but also to discuss her experiences in the ERM space. She leads ERM at Globe Life.

[16:23] We’re also going to talk about her experience with the RIMS-CRMP and how it is impacting her overall organization. Let’s get to it!

[16:37] I’m joined by the President of the DFW RIMS Chapter, Emily Casso Ford! Welcome to RIMScast! We have had such a great time for these last 36 hours or so! We’re talking at the very end of the final DFW RIMS Annual Conference. How does it feel, now that you’re done?

[17:06] Emily says she feels fantastic! She gives a shout-out to the Conference Chair, Chapter Vice President Marissa Holland, who did an outstanding job! This conference is our best yet!

[18:12] Emily gives an overview of her work at Globe Life for the last two-and-a-half years. She started as an island of one leading an ERM function, explaining to C-Suite and board why risk management matters. The board believed in it and demanded that the ERM function expand.

[18:41] Emily started hiring. She had great buy-in from the top. She spearheaded a program in a company that just needed to get around a table and talk about what the risks are and what they look like. Emily refers to ERM as getting comfortable talking about the elephant in the room.

[19:18] Emily started a Risk Liaison Program to work with areas of the organization that weren’t represented on the ERM Committee. She asked the members of the ERM Committee to identify the leaders on their teams who understand the emerging risks on the horizon.

[19:52] These people, the Risk Liaisons, would come together to have good conversations about what those emerging risks look like. They are up to 43 Risk Liaisons, from all across the enterprise of over 3,000 full-time employees. Globe Life is a $6 billion company.

[20:30] All the functions of the company are represented among the Risk Liaisons. Emily’s goal was to pass the mic and give people a voice who hadn’t had a voice or a seat at the table to share the insight and perspectives they have. They are closer to the work that’s being done.

[21:02] They sometimes see the risks coming faster than the folks in upper leadership do. Emily wants to champion that and give them a voice.

[21:21] Emily says the ERM team wants to make sure they share the risks with the board in the right way, giving them the information they need and desire. That changes from quarter to quarter. They are constantly on a trajectory or increased maturity.

[22:16] Some of you listening may recognize Emily Casso Ford as one of our more recent RIMS-CRMP Story interviewees. Emily has an update. Her entire ERM team at Globe Life has now earned the certification of RIMS-CRMP. She’s very proud of each member of the team.

[23:00] Emily’s boss, the SVP of Risk at Globe Life, provided the impetus for the team members to obtain the RIMS-CRMP. The Globe Life Chief Risk Officer fully supported the ERM team members each getting the RIMS-CRMP certification. It showcases their expertise in the industry.

[23:39] The Make-a-Wish Foundation received at least $5,500 in donations at the DFW RIMS Conference this year. A match is expected from a generous benefactor.

[24:04] This has been a great way to close out a wonderful tradition and start a new one. I want to thank you for inviting me! It’s a real privilege to be here! I want to thank Hillwood, a Perot Company, for sponsoring this episode.

[24:26] Emily, you’re doing a great job as President of the DFW RIMS Branch! We look forward to more great work from you!

[24:36] Special thanks to all of my RIMScast guests here who attended the DFW RIMS Annual Fall Conference and Spa Event. A very special thank you to Marissa Holland, DFW RIMS Vice President. As Emily said, she was the unsung hero of this year’s event. She’s fantastic!

[24:55] Visit DFWRIMS.org for more information and to learn more about the Texas RIMS Regional 2025 Conference, which will be held in San Antonio from August 4th through the 6th.

[25:06] We are very grateful for our sponsor, Hillwood, a Perot Company. Visit Hillwood.com for more information. A link is on this page.

[25:18] It’s RIMS Plug Time! The RIMS App is available to RIMS members exclusively. Go to the App Store and download the RIMS App with all sorts of RIMS resources and coverage. It’s different from the RIMS Events App. Everyone loves the RIMS App!

[25:50] You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show, or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are in our show notes. RIMScast has a global audience of risk and insurance professionals, legal professionals, students, business leaders, C-Suite executives, and more. Let’s collaborate and help you reach them! Contact [e-mail] for more information.

[26:31] Become a RIMS member and get access to the tools, thought leadership, and network you need to succeed. Visit RIMS.org/membership or email [e-mail] for more information.

[26:48] Risk Knowledge is the RIMS searchable content library that provides relevant information for today’s risk professionals. Materials include RIMS executive reports, survey findings, contributed articles, industry research, benchmarking data, and more.

[27:04] For the best reporting on the profession of risk management, read Risk Management Magazine at RMMagazine.com. It is written and published by the best minds in risk management.

[27:17] Justin Smulison is the Business Content Manager at RIMS. You can email Justin at [e-mail].

[27:24] Thank you for your continued support and engagement on social media channels! We appreciate all your kind words. Listen every week! Stay safe!

Mentioned in this Episode:

About our sponsor, Hillwood: Hillwood.com

RIMS ERM Conference 2024 will be in Boston, MA Nov. 18‒19 | Register Now

RIMS Western Regional — Sept 29‒Oct 1, Oregon | Registration is open!

RIMS Canada Conference 2024 — Oct. 6‒9 | Registration is open!

RIMS Greater Bluegrass Chapter Annual Meeting & Conference — Oct 8‒9 | Last call for Registration

RIMS DEI Council

RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP)

RIMS Strategic & Enterprise Risk Center

NEW FOR MEMBERS! RIMS Mobile App

Spencer Internship Grants — Deadline Oct. 15

The Strategic and Enterprise Risk Center

RIMS-CRMP Stories — New interviews featuring DFW RIMS President Emily Casso Ford!

RIMS Webinars:

The Future of RMIS: Beyond Traditional Approaches | Sponsored by Archer | Sept. 26, 2024

Mastering ERM: Leveraging Internal and External Risk Factors for Strategic Advantage | Sponsored by Diligent | Oct. 3, 2024

Long-Term Property Strategies for a Resilient Future | Sponsored by Zurich | Oct. 10, 2024

From AI to the SEC: The Future of D&O Litigation and Regulatory Exposures | Sponsored by Hub International | Oct. 24, 2024

Lessons from Veterans on Strategic Risk Leadership | Presented by RIMS | Nov. 4, 2024

Risk Perception and Management: Insights for a Changing Landscape | Sponsored by Marsh | Nov. 14, 2024 RIMS.org/Webinars

Upcoming Virtual Workshops:

Applying and Integrating ERM | Sept 25‒26 and Dec 4‒5

Fundamentals of Risk Management | Oct 3‒4, 2024

Fundamentals of Insurance | Oct 9‒10, 2024

See the full calendar of RIMS Virtual Workshops

RIMS-CRMP Prep Workshops

Related RIMScast Episodes: “Bigger Risks with the Texas State Office of Risk Management” | Sponsored By Hillwood

Sponsored RIMScast Episodes:

“Weathering Today’s Property Claims Management Challenges” | Sponsored by AXA XL (New!)

“Storm Prep 2024: The Growing Impact of Convective Storms and Hail” | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company (New!)

“Partnering Against Cyberrisk” | Sponsored by AXA XL

“Harnessing the Power of Data and Analytics for Effective Risk Management” | Sponsored by Marsh

“Accident Prevention — The Winning Formula For Construction and Insurance” | Sponsored by Otoos

“Platinum Protection: Underwriting and Risk Engineering's Role in Protecting Commercial Properties” | Sponsored by AXA XL

“Elevating RMIS — The Archer Way” | Sponsored by Archer

“Alliant’s P&C Outlook For 2024” | Sponsored by Alliant

“Why Subrogation is the New Arbitration” | Sponsored by Fleet Response

“Cyclone Season: Proactive Preparation for Loss Minimization” | Sponsored by Prudent Insurance Brokers Ltd.

“Subrogation and the Competitive Advantage” | Sponsored by Fleet Response

“Cyberrisk Outlook 2023” | Sponsored by Alliant

“Chemical Industry: How To Succeed Amid Emerging Risks and a Challenging Market” | Sponsored by TÜV SÜD

“Insuring the Future of the Environment” | Sponsored by AXA XL

“Insights into the Gig Economy and its Contractors” | Sponsored by Zurich

“The Importance of Disaster Planning Relationships” | Sponsored by ServiceMaster

RIMS Publications, Content, and Links:

RIMS Membership — Whether you are a new member or need to transition, be a part of the global risk management community!

RIMS Virtual Workshops

On-Demand Webinars

RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP)

RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy

RIMS Events, Education, and Services:

RIMS Risk Maturity Model®

RIMS Events App Apple | Google Play

Sponsor RIMScast: Contact [e-mail] or [e-mail] for more information.

Want to Learn More?

Keep up with the podcast on RIMS.org and listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Have a question or suggestion? Email: [e-mail].

Join the Conversation!

Follow @RIMSorg on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

About our guests: LaToya Lee, Vice President of Crew Safety at Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers and DFW RIMS Ex Officio

Penni Chambers, Vice President of Risk Management at Hillwood. Penni is also a former DFW RIMS President. She is currently a RIMS Board Director.

Emily Casso Ford, Esq., RIMS-CRMP, VP of Enterprise Risk at Globe Life. Emily is also the DFW RIMS President.

Postables (Edited For Social Media Use):

Kids like to be on their cell phones. They like TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat. At Raising Cane’s, we have good policies and procedures to help guide our young crew to be the best fry cook cashiers they can be, put their cell phones up, and stay off social media. — LaToya Lee

It’s exciting to me as a seasoned professional to see these young faces and new faces at the DFW RIMS Conference. This is incredible! — Penni Chambers

The people who are in that first line are closer to the work that’s being done and they sometimes see the risks coming faster than the folks in upper leadership do. We want to champion that. We want to give them a voice. — Emily Casso Ford, Esq.

As our function grows, we are constantly on a trajectory of increased maturity. — Emily Casso Ford, Esq.